Aksel Martinsen is continuing a family tradition.

His grandmother, Betty Wilson ('70), attended North Texas, majoring in elementary education.

There was even a picture in the Campus Chat of Wilson and her daughter -- Martinsen's mom, Stacie, at about three years old -- waiting in the room to sign up for classes.

"It's really cool that she has that picture saved," says Martinsen, a junior media arts major who grew up in Keller.

"So, when I was searching for scholarships, I saw these alumni scholarships.

I thought back to that picture she has, and I realized that I'm not just some random person that's trying to get a scholarship. I have connections here, so I might as well try my best to get this scholarship. And it turned out for the better."

Martinsen is the beneficiary of two UNT Alumni Association scholarships. Fueled by donations from alumni, these scholarships have enabled dozens of students to achieve their educational goals through the decades.

Martinsen won the 2023-2024 UNT Alumni Association Legacy Scholarship, which was created to honor university alumni. The scholarship awards $1,500 to about six students each year with a preference given to students with family members who are currently members of the UNT Alumni Association. It has undergone several name changes since it was established in 1994.

He also won the Jostens 2024-2025 UNT Alumni Scholarship.

Established in 2014, this scholarship awards $1,400 to two students a year, with a preference given to applicants who have a family member who is an alumnus and is a current member of the UNT Alumni Association.

Besides the family connection, Martinsen chose UNT because it allows him to pursue his career goals and his hobby. "UNT's jazz program is amazing here, so that's why I can still have fun with the trombone and also pursue my major of media arts," says Martinsen, who is a member of the Six O'Clock Lab Band.

Martinsen has always been a movie fan -- noticing certain editing cuts when others didn't -- and has been making films since high school. He would like to work as a film editor.

Right before his sophomore year at UNT, he took a course, Media Production in the Southwest, in which students traveled to filming locations such as Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, where movies such as Oppenheimer, Wyatt Earp and City Slickers were shot.

"These types of scholarships allowed me to take trips like that," he says. "You're actually going there to New Mexico and seeing the film sets, seeing how all this stuff is done."

And his grandmother, who is a member of the UNT Alumni Association, was happy to see he earned the scholarships.

"My grandparents, they're always excited. They even come up here from Granbury every Thursday to drive me around to my classes. They just love seeing me, and knowing that they're here supporting me, it really means a lot."